2 4 o AFTER WILD SHEEP IN THE ALTAI 



that this camp should be a permanent one, game 

 being plentiful in the neighbourhood. 



I found our caravan greatly increased on my return 

 by the arrival of the Zaissan Semion with forty fresh 

 horses and a dozen Kalmuks with a demitcha, who 

 were to replace our men. He had also brought with 

 him a Khirghiz chief, Abduldho by name, whose 

 martial appearance and stately looks made a great 

 impression upon our Kalmuks. In token of friend- 

 ship he had brought us thirteen sheep as a present, 

 and told us through our interpreter many quaint 

 stories of his nomadic life. He was the hereditary 

 and autocratic ruler over about a thousand Kirghiz, 

 and owned immense numbers of horses, sheep, and 

 cattle. He had been for years past under Chinese 

 rule and a vassal of the Chinese Emperor, but 

 finding no suitable ground for his purpose on the 

 Celestial side, he had shifted quarters and settled 

 down on Siberian territory, having sent in a petition 

 to the Russian authorities with a view to becoming 

 a subject of the Czar. Apparently, however, his 

 presence was not wanted in Russia, for not only 

 was there no answer forthcoming from the Altai 

 governor, but orders had been given to turn him 

 out of Russian territory, where constant frictions took 

 place between his Kirghiz and the native Kalmuks. 



